Gipsies who set up camp on private land without permission would face jail if
they refused to move on, under plans to be unveiled by the Conservatives
today.

Launching a package of new “fair play” measures designed to stop travellers abusing the planning system, the party will promise to strengthen the rights of land owners.

There has been growing concern that gipsies have been taking advantage of planning and human rights laws to avoid eviction from land which they do not have permission to camp on.

The Tories say that if elected they will take action against the “small minority” of travellers abusing the system.

The package includes a proposal to create a new criminal offence of “intentional trespass,” similar to laws in place in the Republic of Ireland, which would give the police the power to arrest trespassers who refused to move on after being asked to do so by a uniformed officer.

At present, unless an act criminal damage takes place, trespass is treated as a civil offence, meaning landowners are forced to go to court to remove unwelcome gipsy encampments.

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The new law would also be open to home owners seeking to evict squatters.

In addition, the Conservatives will pledge to close a loophole which allows planning permission to be applied for retrospectively.

Under current rules, gipsies cannot be evicted from land if planning permission has been requested, meaning travellers can move in and begin to lay down concrete on green spaces on weekends and bank holidays, and then avoid expulsion by submitting a planning application before council officials can be sent to the site to shut it down.

The party will also promise to scrap what shadow ministers describe as “unfair Whitehall planning rules” introduced by John Prescott, the former deputy prime minister, which they say are forcing councils to build legal traveller camps on the Green Belt and compulsory purchase land to find sites.

Bob Neill, the shadow local government and planning minister, said: "The British public want to see fair play for all, rather than special treatment being given to some.

“Labour's changes have undermined community cohesion by creating a legitimate sense of injustice in the planning system.

“Law-abiding citizens understandably have to jump through many hoops to build in rural areas.

“Yet it's wrong that certain groups have been given a green light to bypass those rules and concrete over the Green Belt when no one's looking."

In addition, the party will promise to fund more authorised sites from central government budgets, rather than laying the burden on local taxpayers. This is likely to lead to confusion, however, as the party has repeatedly promised to slash Whitehall budgets in order to tackle the deficit.

In addition, the Conservatives will say that they will stop gipsies using human rights laws by scrapping the Human Rights Act and replacing it with a “British Bill of Rights”.

However, Dominic Grieve, the shadow justice spokesman, recently admitted that the Conservatives may not be in a position to repeal the Act in their first term in office.